TAMURA Mana

The daughter of Japanese immigrant parents, Mana was born in Lodi, California, making her an American citizen.

In 1938, Mana’s father, Ken’ichi, moved the family back to his hometown, the village of Jigozen, west of Hiroshima in what is now Hatsukai-ichi city. Ken’ichi hoped the move would help Mana and her siblings connect with Japanese language and culture.

In 1945, Mana was a student at Yamanaka Girls’ High School.

On 6 August, she and her classmates were working to demolish buildings to create firebreaks in Hiroshima city. She was exposed to the nuclear bombing at her worksite and suffered fatal burns from the bomb’s searing heat.

When she didn’t return home that day, Mana’s elder sister, 16-year-old May, and Ken’ichi set out to look for her from 7 August. For two days they were unable to find her, but on the evening of the second day a neighbour told them he had seen Mana in Hiroshima city.

Based on this information, May and Ken’ichi returned to the city and were able to find Mana’s body on the top of a pile of corpses, a deep gash on her right arm and her face burned beyond recognition.

Her uniform had been burned away too, but May and Ken’ichi knew the American-made nylon slip she was wearing.

They brought Mana’s body home and gave her a proper funeral and burial. Though distraught at her death, they were thankful to have found her.

May returned to the United States in 1947, two years after the end of the war. She married a Japanese-American man and raised a family, often returning with them to Hiroshima for visits.

Mana was one of many young Japanese Americans killed by the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

Out of all Japan’s prefectures, Hiroshima had sent the largest number of immigrants to the United States. Many, like the Tamuras, eventually returned to Hiroshima or sent their American-born children to live with relatives while receiving a Japanese education.